Currently there is great need for texture compression to enable high-definition content to be accessed on various entertainment devices. On many of these entertainment devices, disc space limitations and the need for streaming performance is contributing to this requirement. Furthermore, decompression time also needs to be very fast to ensure a smooth accessibility of the content. Thus, there is a need for improved texture codec that can be used in combination with conventional lossless codecs to reduce the storage space required for content while still enabling compression and decompression to be performed quickly. It is further desired that this improved codec can be integrated into an asset build pipeline and can be used in combination with hardware compression and decompression.